Abstract
The institution of marriage forms a bond between a man and a woman. Marriage is a legally and socially accepted union between two individuals. Marriage is regulated by laws, rules, customs and beliefs. It serves the fundamental biological need for sexual gratification in a socially acceptable way. It gives the partners a secure relationship in which they must support and be the best partners after becoming socially committed. Getting married results in lifelong commitments. However, the dissolution of marriages is on the rise due to various reasons. 1
Recently, there has been a surge of silver/grey divorces worldwide. The grey divorce rate doubled between 1990 and 2010. The term ‘grey divorce’, coined by Brown and Lin to refer to divorces involving persons 50 years and older, doubled between 1990 and 2010. Between 1990 and 2010, the grey divorce rate increased from five divorces per 1,000 married people aged 50 and over to 10 divorces per 1,000. The demographics of adults going through a divorce changed dramatically as a result of the grey divorce rate tripling and the population ageing. 2
These are the data from Western studies. Silver divorce is a new trend in India. Although India’s divorce rate is only about 1%, the UN report ‘Progress of the World’s Women 2019–2020’ claims that the rate has doubled during the past 20 years.
Grey divorce is an untried way to break up with someone. What causes divorce in later life? How is the experience of a grey divorce influenced by life changes like retirement, the empty nest syndrome, and the start of illness? Are there gender disparities? What is the impact of divorce on relationships with adult children and support systems? What does grey divorce tell us about the attitudes of older adults toward ageing and their ideas about personal relationships and families? There are many unanswered questions about grey divorces.
The concept of grey divorce is quite rare in India, where the society considers marriage as a lifelong commitment, and elderly couples most often stay together despite many issues. However, in the last decade, there has been a phenomenal change in how divorce is viewed. Studies from India are sparse in exploring the dimensions and consequences on the mental health of the individuals undergoing the dissolution process.
Few studies from Western countries have explored the correlates of divorce in the later part of life. According to research by Brown and Lin, the divorce rate among Americans aged 50 and above doubled between 1990 and 2010. Economic reasons, marital biography, and demographic traits were found to be linked to the likelihood of a grey divorce. 2
Karraker and Latham investigated the connection between the commencement of a significant medical condition and the eventual dissolution of a marriage. Their study identified a significant gender difference: the only factors linked to an increased chance of divorce are measures of the wife’s sickness onset. Grey divorce has not been linked to certain life transitions, such as retirement or an empty nest when children leave their parents’ home. However, factors that have been linked to divorce at an earlier age can still predict a grey divorce. Specifically, factors such as wealth, tenure, ethnic heterogamy, quality of the marriage, and time of occurrence have all been found to be important in explaining divorces that occur after the age of 50. 3
According to Lin, gerontological research should consider divorce and re-partnering in later life in addition to widowhood. 4 Another study from European countries concluded that when older adults are considered, the predictors of grey divorce are not considerably different from those associated with divorce early in life. Higher education has been considered one of the contributing factors. However, they cannot extrapolate their findings to all older persons who are married and at risk of grey divorce. Studies have not identified the risk factors for grey divorce, which is a shocking omission since the rate of grey divorce is on the rise.
Grey Divorce and Mental Health
Given the growing number of divorces among senior citizens, it is important to consider whether and how a marital breakdown in later life impacts mental health. Divorced people experience poorer mental health in later life than their partnered counterparts, according to the scant literature that focuses exclusively on the mental health of divorced older adults. This research is frequently cross-sectional. 5 Nevertheless, it is important to use caution when interpreting this cross-sectional research’s results, as divorce estimations may accurately reflect selection variables. For example, physical health, socioeconomic level, and personality qualities may all predict divorce and mental health in later life.2,6
Lin et al. compared the mental health trajectories of married, divorced, and bereaved persons to offer data on the impact of grey divorce on depressive symptoms. According to their multilevel research, depression symptoms surged right after a divorce but then progressively subsided. 7
Tosi et al. 2020 did a longitudinal study from the UK on the impact of grey divorces on mental health, and as per their findings, the years before and following the breakup of a union are associated with an increase in depressed symptoms General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) of older persons. Depressive symptoms subside and roughly revert to their pre-separation levels after separation. The findings contradict the chronic strain model of divorce but are in line with the crisis model. The detrimental effects of later-life divorce on mental health are generally mitigated by older persons’ reproductive history and their ability to cope with marriage dissolution. 8
Conclusion
With the increasing ageing population, financial independence, and many other factors, India’s number of grey divorces is increasing. Grey divorces constitute a strategic site for studying the transformation of the ageing family in late modernity. The impact of grey divorces on the mental health of the family and the adult children has yet to be studied on a larger scale. The role of mental health professionals in supporting elderly couples going through the process of dissolution and emotional challenges cannot be ignored.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.